Welcome
to Queer Music History 101. This is a special edition
of my radio show and website Queer Music Heritage. I'm designing this
show as sort of
a study guide, or lesson plan, and I hope it appeals to those LGBT Studies
courses now
found at many universities around the country. So this is a two-hour
crash course, and
you have no idea how difficult it was to keep it to that, as I've been
doing my QMH show
for over ten years, and have about 250 hours of programs archived on
my site. I'll be
using short song clips, 65 of them, but in this section I have links
to full versions of the
songs, and also to more in-depth information. The "Click to Listen"
buttons at the upper
right allow for the streaming or downloading of the segments.

The driving force
of my radio show and site has always been that I do not think
gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender music of the past should be forgotten.
Several years ago I was asked to write an essay for a university music
journal on
"Queer Music Radio: Entertainment, Education, and Activism,"
and I think that article
really fleshes out the importance of this subject area.

The music history
of LGBT culture is largely forgotten, and this is a unique area that
should not be, as it reflects a culture itself that until the last few
decades has been invisible.
In their music artists describe their lives, and their struggles with
a variety of life issues,
just like straight people, and understanding brings acceptance.

How can this material
be used? I am not a university professor so would not
presume in that realm, but the two-hour lesson can be streamed or, as
I envisioned it,
downloaded for listening later, as an assignment. As all songs can be
streamed
individually they could be heard and discussed in class if desired it
seems everyone
has laptops these days.

I have inserted questions on various subject areas into the
segments themselves and those are also shown on the Song Information
pages.
Certainly professors will think of additional ones to highlight particular
areas they wish
to stress. I would love feedback when this "lesson" is used
in class, not only because
it would be interesting to see where and how it is used, but also to
receive suggestions
on ways to improve it.